Friday, December 21st, 2001 — Insurance companies say they will continue to seek a federal backstop for terrorism insurance coverage, but will also ask the states to approve terrorism exclusions in the wake of the failure of the U.S. Senate to approve terrorism insurance legislation.
"Politics has trumped sound public policy," said Robert E. Vagley, president of the Washington-based American Insurance Association.
"There is broad agreement on both sides of the political aisle on Capitol Hill, as well as in the Bush administration, that this legislation is vital to the U.S. economy," Mr. Vagley said, accusing plaintiff attorneys of scuttling the bill over tort reform provisions.
"The trial bar and their allies who refused to yield to the greater economic imperative bear responsibility for any resulting negative economic consequences," he said, adding that AIA will be back